Tebo Koloti

Tebo Koloti is a South African man in his mid-30s who lives in Oberlin with his dog Buster. A kinder, gentler person you will never find (except when he's drunk) he enjoys watching documentaries, telling stories, playing chess, hitting up the sauna and attending concerts at the 'Sco.

The question of why Tebo is still in Oberlin though he graduated in 2000 is a perpetual mystery for many students, and one I feel necessary to explain. Tebo was promised the last Apartheid scholarship that Oberlin and a consortium of other Colleges gave out in the early 1990s to students from South Africa eager to study in America. Tebo had already received a degree from a university in South Africa but was eager to learn computer science and entered Oberlin in the early-mid 90s in order to study. With the official end of Apartheid and a burgeoning desire to save money, Oberlin decided to take the scholarship away and Tebo was sent back to South Africa. He started a letter-writing campaign for several years and after serious negotiations with the Administration was allowed back on the scholarship he was once promised. In 2000 he graduated with a degree in Computer Science but alas, no working visa. For the last 6 years he has been struggling through many bureaucratic hoops to get a Work Visa so that he can legally work in America. In the meantime, he takes odd jobs here and there in order to pay rent.

I write this in hopes that those who meet Tebo realize that he plays the role of the buffoon in social situations because he is actually a very shy, private person and prefers in certain situations to be misunderstood. He is a phenomenal observer of human character and is always willing to lend a helping hand to a friend in need. He is hard to get to know, so be persistent. He is not just this pot-smoking drunken townie that people percieve him to be. In fact, he is seriously involved with a Diamond Business. Check out the website he designed for them: http://iris.meccahosting.com/~a0003ac5/welcome1.html.

--Sasha 10:12, 6 December 2006 (EST)